Chapter 4

It's been a few days since the 'incident' at the pool. The girls of the Palm Woods have slowly moved on to more interesting things and so has everyone else. Well, except for James.

"Come on Carlos. It's been days… You're killing me over here. Why won't you just tell me what happened on your date? I'll promise I won't tell anyone else." He walks after Carlos, who just smirks as he makes everyone breakfast.

"Just let it go, James. He's not going to tell us." Kendall says as he drops his head to the kitchen table, obviously annoyed.

"I have to know!" James yells at his other friends who roll their eyes.

"Why is it so important?" Logan asks, also looking very annoyed.

"Because… He may have done some stuff that made him a 'man' and since I'm the one who taught him everything he knows, I want to be informed!" At that moment, Carlos turns around with raised eyebrows.

"What do you mean; I taught him everything he knows? Trust me, there are things you didn't teach me. Especially not in that department." He shivers a little, looking a little disgusted at the thought.

"In 'that department'? So you did do something with her? I knew it!" James yells triumphantly. Carlos rolls his eyes now as well as he starts to hand out the pancakes he made.

"Just hurry up and eat your pancakes. We have to be at the studio in half an hour." Logan warns him. Beside him, Carlos mumbles something incoherently, his mouth filled with pancakes. The guys just stare at him, while he stares back with innocent eyes. He shrugs. They all just chuckle.

An hour later the guys are at the studio, practicing their newest song, when suddenly Carlos' phone starts to vibrate. They are all smiling wildly while singing. Kendall starts to sing the first part and Carlos takes the time to quickly check his phone. His smile fades right away when he looks at the screen.

Kendall keeps on singing, while James looks beside him and sees Carlos staring at his phone with a frown. He nudges his friend, who looks at him.

"You okay?" He whispers.

"I'm fine." Carlos nods and whispers back, putting on a small smile. But anyone can see it's not real. They keep on with the song, but Carlos' energy level has fallen flat, which everyone notices right away. Including Gustavo.

"Carlos!" he yells when they're done and the guys flinch. "What was that? This is supposed to be a happy song! I gave you the happiest part and you FAIL! WHY?"

"I'm sorry, alright! I'm just not in the mood." He solemnly replies and the guys look concerned right away.

"Carlos, what are you talking about? You've been so happy all morning, what's with the sudden bad mood, man?" Kendall asks him quietly, when Kelly tries to calm Gustavo down.

"Look, I just remembered what day it is, that's all." He tells his friends. "Can we just move on?"

"Alright! I have decided to stop the harmonies for now, so off to the dance studio. NOW!" the guys immediately run for the dance studio.

Two hours of 'dancing' later, James and Kendall look annoyed, Mr. X is furiously banging his head into the wall and Logan lies on the floor, while Carlos just looks guilty.

"This dance is really not that hard. You usually pick it up first. Why are you the one screwing it up now?" Mr. X screams, making Carlos flinch.

"I'm just having a bad day…" he quietly says, still looking at the floor.

"A bad day? First you ruin our song and now you can't dance anymore?"

"I can still dance, James!" Carlos angrily tells his friend, before crossing his arms and looking away.

"Oh, really? Then why do you still not even know the first two steps? You've knocked Logie down about five times already, not to mention you keep stepping onto Kendall's toes and you keep tripping over your own feet. Do you even want this? Or do you just want to ruin it for me?" Carlos marches up to James, his eyes filled with fury.

"Not everything is about you, Jamez." He spits out and James gasps as he uses the nickname he vowed never to want to hear again.

"Guys, quit it!" Kendall yells, both guys are lined up against each other, waiting to throw a punch. He goes to stand in between them.

"Yeah, guys, quit loving each other…" Logan mumbles as he sits up suddenly. The other guys give him a confused look, before he falls down again.

"Not until James apologizes for being an egotistic ass."

"Ha! I didn't even know you knew such big words."

"Oh, I know a lot more words like that, you little piece of.."

"Carlos!" Kelly suddenly yells, breaking off his sentence. "What is going on here?"

"What's going on here is that Carlos is a moron, who now can't sing or dance. Basically, he's just an idiot who is only good at hurting himself and others. He's hurt his head so many times, I'm pretty sure he doesn't even remember his own birthday now." The others gasp at James' outburst. Carlos just looks at him like he doesn't recognize him and in a second; he's out the door.

Kendall walks up to James and quickly hits him upside the head.

"Ow!" James rubs his head. "What was that for?"

"Why the hell did you say those things about Carlos? What is wrong with you?"

"Hey, he was calling me names." James defends himself.

"he called you an egotistic ass. Doesn't sound wrong to me." Kendall tells him. "You just said he was basically no good at anything and that he's stupid."

James suddenly hears his own words replaying in his mind and he bites his lip. He groans and face palms.

"Okay, I was an idiot."

"Yeah, no shit." Kendall tells him. "Come on, we should go find him." They both want to head out when they hear a groan behind them. They head back and roll their eyes as they try to pick Logan off of the floor.

"Where are we going?"

"Disneyland, Logie. Come on." Kendall tells him as James and he put their arms under Logan's and hoist him up.

"Woohoo!" Logan cheers and starts to sing the song "halfway There", much to the annoyance of the other two.

Meanwhile, Carlos just keeps on walking in a direction he knows by heart. He doesn't even care that it's started to rain, or maybe he just doesn't notice.

Soon it's pouring and he's soaking wet by the time he reaches his destination.

"Carlos?"

"Carlos!" His friends keep shouting his name as they rush to find him in the pouring rain. Suddenly, a limo pulls up beside them. They watch the window roll down and are met by Kelly.

"Get in, you're going to get yourselves wet." She yells over the rain. They quickly get in and the limo rushes forward.

Sarah is just sitting on her couch in a big t-shirt, her hair in a loose bun and some shorts, watching TV when she hears something in the hallway.

She hears someone cursing and muttering, before some banging and even louder cursing. She turns down her TV and gets up. The mumbling gets louder and she feels some fear creep inside, thinking someone is trying to break in next door. She tiptoes to her door and grabs a bat that stands in the corner.

She listens to some more banging when suddenly all gets quiet. She stands on her toes and looks through her peephole. She's surprised to find someone sitting down, the sneakers are quiet visible. She's confused and slowly opens her door.

She nearly gasps when she finds Carlos sitting against the wall, across from his own apartment, soaking wet and clearly upset.

"Carlos?" She quietly calls out and he looks up for a second, before looking away.

"Leave me alone." He sniffles and her eyes widen. Is he crying?

"Carlos, what happened?"

"Stupid door. I couldn't get it to open." He says, pretending not to cry, but she can hear his voice croaking.

"Well, where's your key? I can try, if you want."

"I uh… I can't find it." He sheepishly tells her, not looking her in the eye.

"Oh. Well, I can't blame the door for not opening then." She smiles as she leans against her own doorframe. He looks up for a moment and smiles a little himself before sniffling again and looking down.

"Come on, you must be freezing." She tells him and walks up to him, holding out her hand. He looks up and slowly grabs hold of it, pulling himself up.

"Thanks.." He quietly tells her and wipes his eyes, obviously looking embarrassed.

She smiles warmly and opens her door further, letting him in, before closing the door behind her.

"Now, you go take a hot shower and I'll make some hot chocolate." She starts to head for the kitchen.

"But I uh… I don't have anything else to wear." He tells her and she giggles.

"Is that a problem?" She tells him and he smiles, his lips curling to the right.

"So that's why you invited me in? You just want to see me naked." She smirks.

"Of course, baby, I just love your hot body." She growls at him.

"Pervert." He jokes and she sticks out her tongue at him.

"I think I have some big shirt and boxers I once stole from my brother. I think they might fit you." Carlos raises his eyebrows. "They were comfortable, alright."

He shakes his head and she playfully pushes him.

"Go take a shower, I'll go get those clothes." He chuckles and walks towards the bathroom. He sniffs when he's inside, taking in all the different scents that linger inside. Scented candles and shampoo seem to be the culprits. It all smells just like her. He closes his eyes as he takes it all in, making him forget all about what happened. Right until he shivers and realizes he's wearing soaking wet clothes.

He sighs and starts to peel them off, before stepping into the shower and letting the hot water calm him down further.

Sarah walks into the bathroom a few minutes later with clothes in her arms. She resists the urge to step into the shower herself, when she realizes he needs a moment. Now is not the time.

But just seeing his shape in the shower, it takes all her strength not to open the door and jump him.

She slowly just moves back and out the bathroom, closing the door behind her gently.

She goes back towards the kitchen and makes hot chocolate. When she's done, she moves to steaming mugs to the coffee table in her living area. Smiling when she no longer hears the shower. She quickly pops in some little marshmallows and gets comfortable on the couch.

She waits a little, staring at the TV screen, until she hears the bathroom door open. She turns her head and tries to stifle a laugh, but biting her lip at the same time.

She wants to laugh at how big the clothes are on him, but the sight of his wet hair, standing up in spikes makes her want to crawl over the ouch and kiss the life out of him.

"It's not funny." He exclaims when he sees her trying to stifle a laugh. "They're a little big.

"A little? I should give you a belt for those boxers. I mean, thank god you fill them well, or they would be falling down your knees.." He eyes suddenly widen at what she just said. "I'm sorry, bad moment."

He smirks. "No, it's okay." He quietly tells her with a small smile that makes her heart melt. He moves forward to sit down next to her.

"Ooh, hot chocolate. And little marshmallows." His eyes light up like a little kid and she giggles. He goes to taste it and sighs in content. "This is really good."

"Thank you." She smiles at him and he smiles back, putting the mug back on the table.

"So? Are you going to tell me what happened?" She suddenly asks and he looks down, sighing. "I'm sorry. You don't have to if you don't want to. But you were just so upset, I.."

"No, it's okay. I uh, I completely messed up in the studio today and everyone got mad at me. Then James and I got into a fight. I told him he was a selfish ass and he uh.. he said some stuff and I just.." His voice starts to crack and Sarah grabs his hand, gently rubbing it. He looks up with a smile and she can see tears welling up in her eyes.

"I just ran out. I mean, the things he said.." He lets his head fall onto the back of the couch. "It just hurt, you know and I… I ran out… and then I got here and I was soaking wet and I couldn't find my key and the door wouldn't open.." Tears are falling freely now and she doesn't hesitate to pull him into her arms as he quietly sobs.

"I'm just so stupid. I can't do anything right.. James was right, I have hit my head too many times.. But I can remember my own birthday… I just forgot another…"

"Carlos, you are not stupid.." She tells him, gently rubbing his back and running her fingers through his hair.

"Yes I am… Because I did forget someone's birthday.."

"Whose?"

"My little sister.. Molly.. I forgot all about it.. I didn't even get her anything… I haven't called her… not a thing.. I've never forgotten it, I've never even missed it…"

"Oh, Carlos… It's okay. I'm sure she'll understand.."

"No, she'll be so upset… I'm her big brother.. I'm not supposed to forget…"

"Oh, honey…"

"I put it in my phone and it reminded me during rehearsal.. I just couldn't concentrate anymore… I didn't want to hurt her… It already hurts so much that I can't see them very often and now I'm missing her birthday…"

"It's alright.. It's okay, Carlos.." She tries to soothe him as he cries in her arms.

A while later she sits on the couch with his head in her lap. He is fast asleep as she runs her hands through his hair.

Suddenly she gets a deja vu as she hears commotion in the hallway. She rolls her eyes and carefully slides out from underneath Carlos and quickly puts a pillow under his head instead. She walks to her door and gently opens it.

She immediately crosses her arms and glares at the three boys now yelling for their friend to open the door.

She clears her throat and suddenly they are quiet and all staring at her.

"Sarah! Sorry, we're just trying to get Carlos to open the door. He ran away from the studio and we looked all over for him, before realizing he might be here. But now he won't open the door." James rambles.

"First of all, keep your voice down!" She whispers harshly. "Secondly, Carlos is not in there. He's in here, with me. And no, you can't see him. He's sleeping."

She goes to close the door again, but Kendall puts his hand in to stop her.

"Wait, he's here? Is he okay?"

She sighs and steps out onto the hallway, gently closing the door a little further.

"For your information, no, he's not okay. I found him in the hallway, soaking wet and crying." Logan and Kendall glare at James, who suddenly finds the floor very interesting. "He told me what happened in the studio too. What is wrong with you guys? How could you treat him like that? He didn't mean to make mistakes, he was just upset about missing his sister's birthday."

Their eyes widen suddenly. "It's Molly's birthday today?" Kendall exclaims and James suddenly punches the wall.

"I can't believe I forgot about that." He tells them.

"James, we all forgot." Logan tells him, trying to calm him down.

"Yeah, so did Carlos. And you guys didn't make it any better by treating him the way you did."

"Hey, James is the one who yelled at him." James shoots Kendall a look. "Just saying, man."

"It doesn't matter who said what. He's just really upset about it. He's really hurt, guys."

Logan sighs. "He always is around important family dates. We're always there for him, trying to take his mind off of it, cheering him up and stuff. But we forgot this time. We got busy and just forgot."

"It's a good thing he has you now." Kendall offers with a smile.

Sarah sighs. "I haven't known him that long. If I had known…"

"Hey, you calmed him down. I'm really glad he found someone who cares for him the way you do. And he really cares for you too, you know?" Kendall puts a hand on her arm.

"Thanks, Kendall."

"I mean, it's gone a little fast, but still…hey!" James exclaims when Logan punches his arm. Sarah just laughs slightly.

"So, can we see him now?" Kendall asks again, all three guys putting on their best Carlos pouts.

Sarah rolls her eyes. "Come on." She tells them and opens the door. "He's on the couch."

She motions for them to go in and they carefully head inside. They look around her apartment in awe.

"This place looks great." James tells her in a whisper, looking at the walls.

"Thanks." She whispers back.

"You did this?" He asks in a gasp. Sarah just nods. "Wow…"

Kendall walks over to Carlos and moves his arms underneath him, picking him up in bridal style.

"Come on, buddy."

"I don't wanna go to school… Gustavo is mean…" Everyone chuckles at Carlos' mumbling in his sleep.

"We know, Carlitos." Kendall whispers to him and they start to head out again.

"What is he wearing?" James says in shock.

"It was all I had." Sarah defends as she walks them to the door.

"Thanks, Sarah." Logan tells her before they head out. She just smiles from her doorway and nods.

"It's no problem. That's why I'm his girlfriend."

"He really is lucky to have you." She smiles and nods, blushing a little. She watches the guys head inside the other apartment and closes the door.

"I'm going to put Carlos in his own bed." Kendall announces as he walks into their bedroom, while Logan and James plop down on the couch. Each lets out a deep sigh.

"Well, that was a messed up morning." Logan says out loud, James just nods in agreement.

"I can't believe we forgot Molly's birthday."

"I know." Logan sighs again. "We should do something to make it up to him."

"Sarah already took his mind off of it a little. Such a good coincidence she lives next door." James exclaims with a smile.

"I know, right?" Logan agrees and they're both quiet for a minute.

Then, suddenly, both their eyes go wide and they shoot up from the couch.

"Oh my god… Kendall?" They shout a little, running into the bedroom.

"What, what?" He asks, whispering and motioning towards the sleeping Carlos, now covered with a blanket in his own bed.

"Sorry." Logan whispers.

"But we just found out something important." James adds, while Logan nods feverously.

"What? Tell me." Kendall whispers back.

"Do you remember whose apartment we just walked out of?" James asks him.

"Yeah, Sarah's, why?"

"Sarah's apartment, which is right next door? On the right side of our apartment?" Logan hints, but Kendall looks confused.

Then, it suddenly seems to dawn on him. He looks back at Carlos.

"No…" The other guys nod with huge grins.

Then, Kendall walks out, dragging the other two with him and closing the bedroom door behind him. He puts a hand over his mouth in shock and pulls it away again.

"Oh my god.."

"Yeah, the screaming came from her.." James whispers. They are acting like a bunch of high school girls who just found out the biggest secret ever, but they don't care.

"This is so… Carlos did that to her?" Kendall asks again.

"Now we know why he was two hours late." Logan offers.

"And why his tie was hanging loose." Kendall adds.

"And why he wouldn't tell us what happened after the date." James realizes.

"Oh my god… Our Carlitos really did become a man." Kendall wipes away a fake tear.

"That dog… I always knew he had it in him." James says, looking proud and throwing a look at the closed bedroom door.

"No, you didn't." Logan tells him, not believing him at all.

"I did, Logan. You guys were the ones making fun of him with the Latino Fire thing. I was the one who encouraged him when he was nervous about going on that date in the first place. All you guys did was eat popcorn." Logan and Kendall share a look.

"Psh.. that was just.. we were just.." They start, but James just rolls his eyes.

"Oh, whatever, guys."

Suddenly they hear a sound from inside the bedroom and they quickly rush around the apartment. They all sit somewhere, looking like they're busy.

When the bedroom door opens, Carlos sleepily looks through the apartment. His confusion grows when he sees his three friends all staring at him from different sides of the apartment, but all have a Cheshire size grin on their face.

"So, Carlitos.. You did have some fun with Sarah after all, huh?" Kendall starts.

"Five times, dude, really? Impressive." James adds.

"Yeah, but next time, remember, the walls between our apartments are kind of thin." Logan finally adds.

Carlos just stands in the doorway, his eyes wide. They know…

"Way to go, man. I knew you had it in you." James comes to pat him on the back, all events from earlier in the day forgotten for now. "But seriously, five times? What's your secret?"

Carlos doesn't talk, he just stares ahead.

"Carlos? Woohoo?" James waves his hand in front of his face. He looks at the other guys who shrug with some amusement.

They know…

Yes, I know, no smut, again. Still, I hope you still like this story. I only had one review last time, hoping for a little more now

Despite that, thank you to that single review, it's better than none at all, right? ;) And thank you for the favorite and story alerts. I just hope people enjoy reading my stories

Really going to sleep now, have to work again tomorrow. Only five more weeks and then school starts again. I'll try to update again soon.

So until next time and Love, Baxxie